In Hindi, we bring you three translations: an article <\/a>about how working from home led Siddhi Pandey<\/strong> to make peace with her singlehood, Moulshri Mohan<\/strong>\u2019s review <\/a>of Tales of the Night Fairies<\/em> on the power of collective organising and contemporary debates about sex work, and an interview <\/a>with Maya Sharma<\/strong> about sexuality, labour and social and economic justice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Justice. What does it mean when it is taken out of the law books and policy papers and put into practice? Will we ever really know it in this country where not a day goes by without violations of people\u2019s minds, bodies and spirits, where news outlets scream rape and murder and the \u201cconscience of the nation is stirred\u201d strongly every now and again only to go back into a stupor? But no, we cannot give in to despair. We have to start somewhere. Maybe with our selves and our own workplaces\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n Speaking of Workplaces and Sexuality and referring to the violations of people\u2019s minds, bodies and spirits, endemic in workplaces, we ended the editorial of our last issue of In Plainspeak<\/em> with these words, \u201cWe cannot give in to despair. We have to start somewhere. Maybe with our selves and our own workplaces\u2026\u201d Fittingly, in the September issue on the same theme, Parmesh Shahani<\/strong> in an interview with Shikha Aleya offers a brilliant master-class on diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) at the workplace<\/a>. With warmth and empathy, Parmesh illustrates how the values underlying DEI are transmuted from being just an organisational framework, to becoming principles in action across all sectors at the Godrej Industries Group, one of the few Disability- and LGBTQ-friendly companies in India.<\/p>\n\n\n\n While companies like Godrej are Safe, Inclusive, and Self-Affirming (SISA) workplaces for women, LBGTQIA+ people and people with disabilities (PWDs), they are still only a shining minority. The vast majority of workplaces, as Shivani Rajan<\/strong> deconstructs, are battlegrounds where bodies are shaped, controlled, and violated. Shivani carefully peels off the layers of how this happens, one by one, to finally suggest where lies the potential for the workplace to be transformed from a battleground into a sanctuary<\/a>. Similarly, Shilpa Nair<\/strong> puts out a heartfelt call to action for on-ground organisations to ensure the safety and wellbeing of frontline workers<\/a>. Be it workers on the ground or workers in digital spaces, issues of consent and agency become paramount. Yash Singh Sisodiya<\/strong> examines, with examples, the complexities and challenges of addressing power imbalances and sexuality in digital workplaces<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Z <\/strong>from their experience as a library activist, takes us deftly into the magical realm of reading<\/a> and shows us the power that lies in this seemingly innocuous act: \u201cReading as threat, as deviance. Reading as pleasure, as protest, as sustenance. Reading as doing what you must to make this life uncircumscribed.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cMy colleagues, who spoke powerfully about inclusivity and the importance of mental wellbeing, were the same ones who made offhand remarks that revealed their true colours\u201d says Janice G.<\/strong> in a first-person account of her journey out of the suffocating closet<\/a> that her colleagues forced her back into. Radhika Modi<\/strong> voices similar sentiments in a poem rich with metaphors about workplaces where \u201cidentity flickers as a half-lit flame<\/a>\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In Hindi, we bring you a translation<\/a> of Shikha Aleya<\/strong>\u2019s article Hackers and High Heels. “Plus, in the TARSHI Corner<\/strong>, a translation of our short report<\/a> Equity in Action: Experiences of Non-Profits Working Towards Safe, Inclusive and Self-Affirming Workspaces<\/em> filled with insightful takeaways and colourful infographics. To learn more about our work on SISA spaces, click here<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Finally, check out Quick Bytes to see what our respondent Soumya Mishra<\/strong> has to say<\/a> on Workplaces and Sexuality.<\/p>\n\n\n\n And, something happy-making to watch \u2013 just this month, Godrej DEI Lab<\/strong> has launched a small video, Pride @Godrej<\/em>. Watch it in our Video Corner here<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Go gently, keep peace with your soul.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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